Top Democrats Remain Confident Voters Will Say “YES” On April 21

By Rosaland Tyler
Associate Editor
New Journal and Guide

Many Republicans are turning out early to vote for the redistricting proposal on the April 21 ballot, as Democrats said they remain confident of the party’s chances.

National Democratic groups are passing out flyers and running media ads. The national party has donated $10 million to Virginians for Fair Elections, a group that is encouraging a “yes” vote on April 21.

Speaker Don Scott recently dismissed early voting trends, arguing that despite strong turnouts so far in Republican-leaning areas, Democrats remain on track to prevail

“If you look at our voter scores right now, the last cycle in 2025 at the same point of early voting, we were about 60-40 in voter profiles,” Scott said during a recent press conference featuring Democratic veterans standing in front of the U.S.S. Wisconsin in Norfolk. “Right now, it’s like 59-41,” Scott said. “We’re good. I feel very good about this election.”

Former Gov. Ralph Northam, who is also a veteran like Scott, said at the recent press conference, “There is nothing more important than fair elections and openness to voting. Democrats cannot “sit back as a commonwealth” while others “stack the deck.” He said, “It’s about our democracy, saving our democracy, and stopping the power grab that’s going on from the MAGA-Republicans.”

U.S. Air Force veteran Del. Michael Feggans, D-Virginia Beach, said his support is rooted in the same oath he took while serving, emphasizing the importance of protecting voting access.

“I also took an oath to defend the Constitution. That oath didn’t end just when I took off the uniform,” Feggans said. “Right now, we’re really living in what is not known as normal times.”

Voters have approved Democrat-friendly redistricting in California.

Dems also scored a surprise pickup opportunity with a court-ordered map in Utah.

Records on Friday, March 27, showed the highest number of early and mail-in voters in Virginia is in House of Delegates District 71, where more than 11,500 ballots have been cast, according to data compiled by political analyst Tim Stewart of PolitiMetrics. House District 69 has the second highest total, with more than 9,500 votes cast. The two districts encompass Williamsburg and part or all of surrounding localities including James City, York, New Kent and Gloucester counties and Newport News.

“Turnout in a special election depends on how polarizing the subject is,” Dianna Moorman, James City County’s director of elections recently told The Daily Press. “Both parties are showing up for this one.”

She also said demographics play a role. The Historic Triangle and surrounding localities typically have elevated rates of participation in the electoral process, which comes with the region’s generally older population.

“We have the highest retired population in the state,” she said.

In York County, voter registrar Walt Latham said that early in-person voting now stands at about 98 percent of the turnout for the equivalent time frame in November’s gubernatorial race — a remarkable figure for a special election.

Republican leaning areas are seeing more turnout for early voting, according to news reports, but Democrats across the Commonwealth remain confident of the party’s chances of transforming districts with approval of the April Referendum.

The proposed maps would concentrate most districts in Northern Virginia, shifting influence away from rural and Southside communities.

Voters will have what could be the last say on whether Virginia will temporarily suspend the redistricting commission and allow the Democrat-controlled state legislature to redraw Virginia’s 11 congressional districts before elections this November.

Lawmakers’ ability to draw new maps would be temporary. After the 2030 Census, the commission would resume responsibility for drawing congressional maps. The measure would not affect state legislative districts.

House Republican leader Terry Kilgore, a Southwest Virginia civil litigator by trade, thinks Democrats in the majority made a mistake in trying to hold a redistricting vote so close to Election Day.

“I’m just one lawyer, but in my legal opinion, the elections’ already started and it’s too late constitutionally to have such a vote,” Kilgore said, according to WVTF, Virginia’s Public Radio.

Specifically, the proposed map would move 48 percent of Virginians to a new district. And outside of far Southwestern Virginia, those now represented by a Republican would find themselves in one that would favor Democrats.

Virginians for Fair Elections, has already spent or reserved $17.2 million on ads from Jan. 1 through April 21, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. Meanwhile, the primary group opposing the effort, Virginians for Fair Maps, has spent or reserved $1 million over the same period.